In this morning's Michigan news headlines...

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down state laws like one in Michigan that automatically sends some juveniles to prison for life with no chance of parole. The court’s decision says the punishment is excessive, and violates the Eighth Amendment. “Michigan has more than 350 people in state prisons serving life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles. Deborah LaBelle is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. She says the ruling does not prohibit life without parole for juveniles. But she says the sentence should be very rare now that courts have to take into account factors like how big a role a child played in a murder, age at the time of the crime, and life circumstances,” Rick Pluta reports.

Detroit Layoffs

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced yesterday that by the end of July, Detroit will have 164 fewer firefighters. “Bing said in a statement that public safety is his top priority, but the city's fiscal realities have made protecting police and fire jobs untenable. Mayor Bing says he hopes a federal grant will allow the city to call back all but 56 of the laid-off firefighters. Detroit plans to make 2,600 job cuts citywide and slash a quarter-billion dollars in spending for the fiscal year that starts next week,” Sarah Hulett reports.

Fermi 2 Shutdown

The reactor at the Fermi 2 nuclear plan in Monroe County has been shut down, the Associated Press reports. From the AP:

The Monroe Evening News reports crews idled the plant around 1:30 p.m. Monday when its steam condenser lost the vacuum that pulls steam across a series of cooling tubes. The condenser turns steam back into water after it's used to spin the plant's turbines. Plant spokesman Guy Cerullo says Fermi 2 "is in a safe, stable condition." Cerullo says plant operator DTE Energy is investigating the reason for the pressure loss, and he didn't know when Fermi 2 would be back in operation. He tells The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, that DTE "will operate once" it's "sure everything is in good shape" and it "can safely operate the plant.”